Opportunistic infections in immunocompromised hosts represent an increasingly common cause of mortality and morbidity. Candida species are among the most commonly identified fungal pathogens associated with such opportunistic infections, with Candida albicans being the most common species. Such fungal infections are thus problematical in, for example, AIDS populations in addition to normal healthy women where Candida albicans yeasts represent the most common cause of vulvovaginitis.
Although compounds do exist for treating such disorders, such as, amphotericin, these drugs are generally limited in their treatment because of their toxicity and side effects. Therefore, there exists a need for new compounds, which may be used to treat Candida associated infections in addition to compounds, which are selective in their action against Candida albicans. 
Classical approaches for identifying anti-fungal compounds have relied almost exclusively on inhibition of fungal or yeast growth as an endpoint. Libraries of natural products, semi-synthetic, or synthetic chemicals are screened for their ability to kill or arrest growth of the target pathogen or a related nonpathogenic model organism. These tests are cumbersome and provide no information about a compounds mechanism of action. The promising lead compounds that emerge from such screens must then be tested for possible host-toxicity and detailed mechanism of action studies must subsequently be conducted to identify the affected molecular target.